The Knicks’ playoff run is a “potential boon for MSG Networks Inc.,” as though the NBA Finals will not give it any direct revenue, the team’s winning ways could “drive cable and streaming subscriptions from a large, die-hard fanbase,” according to Irene Perez of BLOOMBERG NEWS. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Kevin Near said, “The local network could see ratings benefit next season from the solid playing momentum and team star power.” The company is working to pay off a $210M loan it agreed to with creditors including Deutsche Bank AG and GoldenTree Asset Management in April last year to restructure a more than $800M loan it could not repay. The rework also included an $80M cash payment “when the deal closed and up to” $100M of the company’s free cash flow “once the loan was repaid” (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 6/8).
STOCK UP: In N.Y., Taylor Herzlich wrote shares in MSG Sports “soared” Monday to hit an intraday high of $392.56 before finishing “marginally lower” ahead of Game 3. The number marked a new record high in share price. Analysts are “optimistic the rally is far from over,” as a “growing number of fans take interest in the stock and the Knicks are expected to bring in massive amounts of cash with every home game” (N.Y. POST, 6/8). The WALL STREET JOURNAL’s Pitcher and Beaton wrote it has been a “remarkable turnaround” for MSG Sports shares. The stock has “roughly doubled this year through Monday,” giving it a market cap around $9.3B. Some believe that Knicks fans are “stepping in and treating MSG Sports like a so-called meme stock and pushing up the price,” while others believe that factors, including a new tax law that will limit how much compensation public companies can deduct from their highest-paid employees, “make conditions ripe for a deal to go private at a record-setting valuation that would be a boon for investors” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 6/8).